Spotlight: Secret Ties

Secret Ties, an unreleased game for the Nintendo Entertainment System,
is an English translation of Master Thief Sugar, an equally-unreleased
game for the Nintendo Family Computer. The game was developed by Vic Tokai, of Golgo
13 videogame fame, and is based on an early 1970s comic book by Takao Saito,
of Golgo 13 comic book fame. I've never read Master Thief Sugar,
and if my research is any indication, neither has anyone else. So as far as
introductions go, this is all I've got.

-By Frank Cifaldi

If the game's plot is any indication, Silk is a professional thief-for-hire
with a lust for adventure and a natural magnetism for women. Which is
unsurprising, given his dark eyes and Duke Togo chin. After all, what woman
wouldn't flock to a guy with a more than passing resemblance to The Man With The
Custom M-16?

We join Silk in what would appear to be an everyday assignment. Vince Brazen,
an employee of the World-Con Security Agency, has hired Silk to steal
some ancient artifacts from an old Incan temple. "That should show their
government just how important a security system is," he says, with an
obviously crooked smile. Over the course of the next six levels, Silk has his
girlfriend abducted and held for ransom, is hailed as a great and prophesized
Messiah, and kicks boulders into a stone elephant's face, all while screaming
lines like "Another day, another dollar!" and "Feet don't fail me
now!" By the end of the game Silk thwarts the bad guy's evil plans, rescues
the girl, and gives the player a sappy message about the importance of
preserving our environment. Roll fake credits, display "The End" in a
fancy font, loop music infinitely until the player gets over his paranoia to
press a button, just in case it will skip the rest of the ending, then call it a
day. And that's Secret Ties.

The game itself is what I lovingly refer to as a Ninja Gaiden Clone. Silk,
represented by a relatively tall and slender sprite, makes his way through each
level by running, jumping, kicking, and even performing the signature Ryu
Hayabusa wall climb. For the obligatory projectile attack, fallen enemies
sometimes drop bullets for his handgun. And once in a great while - which is to
say, almost never - Silk can equip a shield, which temporarily makes him immune
to all attacks. This is useful for a couple dangerous wall climbs with lasers
firing at his back, and not much else.

Each level contains approximately twenty-four screens, according to the
easily-accessible debug mode. And by screens I literally mean screens - there is
no scrolling in Secret Ties. Walk off the edge of a screen, and you're
instantly transported to the next. There are about five or six A.I. routines for
enemies throughout the game, with the only differences from one level to the
next being the enemies' sprites. Each level contains at least one boss enemy,
most of whom can be easily defeated by a swift series of jump-kicks to the face.
Add in a couple minor environmental surprises planted here and there, and a
wordy talking heads cut-scene after each level, and you've more or less got the
gist of the game.

It's easy to say that Secret Ties is a very generic, cookie-cutter
game by the standards of 1992. And to an extent, you'd be absolutely correct.
But is that a bad thing?

I'm reminded, for some reason, of the Jim Davis business model. You might
know Davis as the creator of Garfield. And again, you'd be mostly right, but
what you might not realize is that above any other title you might give him, Jim
Davis is a businessman. He's never denied that Garfield was created purely as a
marketing icon. He has no pretense of "creating art," or pushing
envelopes, or being the least bit innovative. In fact, he admits that Garfield
is the exact opposite. For over twenty-five years now, Garfield has hated
Mondays, been too lazy to chase mice, and has coveted more than his fair share
of lasagna. "It says to all of us, some things in life can be counted on, they're
consistent," Davis has been quoted as saying.

Because Garfield has remained relatively low-key, as far as marketing goes,
and has not gone through even a hint of change in all these years, there simply
has not been opportunity for much of a counterculture backlash. Chris Sullentrop
said it best.
"What's kept Garfield in business for so long is Davis' canny understanding of how much is too much."
He pulled merchandise, calmed down his licensing, and went low-key when it
seemed like Garfield was getting too popular. When there was a bit of a lull, he
put out a cartoon series, which was entertaining for a while but ultimately
forgettable. Hell, just this year, we saw Garfield make his theatrical
debut, which was quickly watched and forgotten even before the ink dried on
Davis' royalty checks.

The same could be said of Secret Ties and its ilk. Sure, the released Ninja
Gaiden clones - Vice: Project Doom, Shatterhand, Wrath of
the Black Manta and what have you - followed the same basic formula. But I'm
sure I'm not alone in saying that I happily devoured the games as they came out,
and one only need look at a few back issues of Nintendo Power to see games like Time
Diver: Eon Man, Bio Force Ape, and Ultimate Journey that, like
Secret Ties, were given the axe before the market became terribly
saturated with look-alikes. And while there might not be a Jim Davis who retains
creative control and ownership over "Ninja Gaiden clones," it could be
said that the real profit is given to us, the gaming nerds who remember the
genre fondly and feel a warm sense of security playing a familiar - yet new -
game from that era.

Flowery language aside, Secret Ties is worth a look, and a quick play
through, but not much else. If you're at all nostalgic for the games listed above, you'll feel right at home. Just don't expect to discover a lost classic. That's
was never Secret Ties' role.